Garment pressing machine



Sept. 20, 1938. BE E 2,130,481

GARMENT PRESS ING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Aug. 12, 1951 Sept. 20, 1938. H E DE. 2,130,481

GARMENT PRESS ING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 12, 1931 a Shets-Sheet 2 Zhwentor attorneys Sept. 20, 1938, H. G. BEEDE GARMENT PRESSING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Aug. 12', 1931 3nventor y. $14k ."l

Patented Sept. 20, 1938 UNITED STATES repression GARMENT PRESSING MACHINE Herbert G. Beede, Pawtucket, R. 1.

Original application August 12, 1931, Serial No. 556,694. Divided and this application March 27, 1935, Serial No. 13,331

Claims. (Cl. 74-539) My invention relates to garment pressing maagainst which a compression spring 25 presses,

chines such as are used in tailoring, dry cleaning, the other end of the spring engaging a spacer laundering and similar establishments for steamblock 24 on the rocking lever 22. This arrangeing and pressing clothing of various kinds, and ment maintains constant pressure on the latch,

5 the invention relates particularly to latching urging it to move forwardly. 28 is a rod threaded 5 mechanism for holding the pressing elements at its lower end and engaging a swiveled nut on closed and for releasing the latching mechanism the rocker lever 22' at 29. 2'! is an enlarged so that the movable pressing element can move head on the'upper end of the rod 28 by means of to open position. which the rocking lever 22 may be adjusted.

This application is a division of my prior ap- Abracket 48 is mounted on the frame and held 10 plication, Ser. No. 556,694, filed August 12, 1931, in place by screws 49. The lever 46 is pivotally upon which Patent No. 2,034,279 was issued connected at 50 to bracket 48 and is provided with March 17, 1936, and the objects of the invention an extension 5! which acts as a stop to downinclude, first, the provision of latching mecha- Ward movement of the lever 46 by abutting the i5 nism automatically operable upon closing of the bracket 48. Ths outer end 52 of the lever 45 is press to releasably maintain the pressing elehook shaped for engagement by the fingers of the ments in pressing position; second, the provision operator and is located approximately in alineof means for effecting release of the latching ment with the front edge of the press table and mechanism to allow the pressing elements to a short distance therebelow. The press table is return to open position either in combination cut away at 53 to allow for insertion of a plate 20 with the means for effecting closing of the press 54 which is held to the press table by the screws or by independent means operable from con- 55. The plate is provided with a forwardly provenient points by the hand or foot of the operjecting portion 56 to accommodate the thumb of ator. the operator.

as All of the objects and advantages of the in- A rod 5'! is connected to the lever 46 intervention will become apparent and will be referred ed a e t D V t 9 and e d 52 at 8 to during the course of the following detail deand to the trip Cr k 59 Which is p v t y 0nscription of the accompanying drawings wherein neoted at 60 to bracket 6| which is mounted on are shown preferred embodiments of the inan extension 23' of the pivot for the roc in vention and in which,- lever 22. The bracket BI is prevented from ro- 30 Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a t i n by he set rew 6 or h r m n eng pressing machine with parts in section showing ihg between t e eXtensiOh a d bracket one form of my present invention applied The upper nd f the t p Crank 59 s p s d thereto; in alinement with or in abutting engagement 5 Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentaryperspective with the extension 45 when the press is in closed View of a portion of the releasing mechanism; position as shown in and the shoulder Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a pressing or of the latch 20' is moved from engagement with ironing machine showing another form of the the lug t permit Opening of the press y invention applied thereto; operation of the lever 46. 40 Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the latching and When the operator presses down with his foot 4 releasing apparatus shown in Fig. 3; and on the treadle 63 which is shown as an integral Fig. 5 is a View partly in section showing the p Of the Pedal lever the lug s b u h treadles and associated parts of Fig. 4 in pl n, down along the front face of the latch 20' until Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the manually operit has passed the lower end thereof at which time ated latch releasing mechanism is designed for the latch moves forwardly so that the shoulder use with foot treadles which do not function to engages Over the lug as shown in gopen the press, the foot treadles being either de- T0 p the pre s the Operator p s his ht tachable or formed integral with the pedal lever thumb on the extension 56 of the plate 5c and Hi". In this form of the invention the latch 20' pl e h s fin s r forefinger un er the hooked is provided with a lug or lateral extension 45 end 52 0f t lever 45 Whiehis a ed bya squeez- 50 through which the release motion is transmitted ing action between thumb and forefinger. As to the latch from a lever 46 operated from a point the lever 46 moves upwardly it exerts a pull adjacent the table 41, which, it will be underthrough rod 51 O t e end of Crank 59 tu n n stood, is mounted on the frame Ill adjacent the the same on pivot 60 so that the upper end of buck. 26 is a projection from the latch 20 the crank presses against the extension or lug 45 255 thus moving the latch 20' backwardly until the shoulder 3| is moved from engagement with the lug 30. After the latch has been released the operator merely withdraws his fingers from the hook 52 so that the lever 46 will move downwardly under the action of gravity until the extension 5| abuts the bracket 48 at which time the releasing mechanism is in position to again release the latch 20' after the press has been closed.

In Figs. 3-5, I have shown a construction and arrangement of releasing means for the latch comprising a combination of hand lever and foot pedal mechanism, the foot pedal being separate from the main press treadle which operates the toggle mechanism.

Referring to Fig. 3, head I2 is carried by the arms l3, and the buck II on frame l and other parts of the machine, are of usual construction. The closing movement of the head I2 is initiated by pressure on the treadle 10 which may be an integral part of the foot pedal lever as shown in Fig. 3 or a detachable treadle. The operating lever carries the projecting lug H which corresponds to the lug 30 for engagement under the shoulder of the keeper 12 to lock the press closed. Instead of the arrangement of the compression spring to urge the keeper 12 forward, I have shown the keeper as provided with a counterbalance weight 13 which tends to move the keeper forward by swinging movement on pivot l4 extending through the rocking levers l5 which are adjustable by means of the screw 27. The keeper I2 is also provided with a projection or laterally extending lug 16 which is disposed in front of the upper end of the crank lever ll pivoted at E8 to the releasing pedal 19, which as shown in Fig. 4, is pivoted to the frame at 88 and has at its inner end a counter-balancing weight 8| which tends to maintain the pedal in substantially horizontal position with the stop 8| on the lever abutting a horizontal portion on the frame Hi. The movement of the lug H under the shoulder of the keeper 12 is effected in the same manner as described in connection with the other figures, it being understood that the counter-balancing weight 13 tends to keep the forward face of the keeper against the projection H until the projection has reached the lower end of the face, at which time the keeper will be thrown forward by the weight to engage over the projection. The keeper is moved out of locking engagement with the projection H by means of the crank lever 11 which operates in the manner described in connection with the crank 59 of Figs. 1-2, under the action of mechanism now to be described.

To the upper front portion of the frame In, the bracket 82 is secured by bolts 83. The bracket has upstanding lugs 84 between which is pivoted the hand lever 85 which comprises a stop 86 to engage the front of the bracket 82 and an out wardly extending shank with the finger hook 81 at its forward end. The plate 54' is secured to the front of the table 4'! and has the thumb rest 56'. The lever 85 is connected at 88 to the rod 89 which has its other end connected to the crank lever H at 90.

In Fig. 4, I have shown the same arrangement as in Fig. 3 with the exception of the hand lever 9| which is of the same construction and arrangement as that shown and described in Fig. 1. Also in Fig. 4, I have indicated the connection 90 as at A, the pivot 18 of the crank lever as B, and the upper end of the crank lever as C, and in connection with the description of the operation about to be given, reference may conveniently be had to Fig. 4.

The parts are moved to locked position when the treadle lever 10 is depressed so that the extension H is brought low enough for the latch 12 to move forwardly on pivot 14 under the action of counterweight 13. To release the latch the operator may place his thumb over the projection 56 with his fingers under the hook on the lever 85 or 9| and raise the lever so that the rod pulling at point A will rock the crank lever on its pivot B to move the end C against the projection 16 to move the latch 12 back until the shoulder is clear of the projection 1 I.

It will be noted that the crank lever functions as a lever of the first class when release is effected through the hand lever from above as the effort is applied at A and the fulcrum is at B between the point where the effort is applied and the point C where the power is transmitted.

The latch may also be released by depressing the foot pedal 19 which causes the crank lever to act as a lever of the third class for it then fulcrums at A, receives the power at B and transmits the power at C to move the latch 12 out of engagement with the extension 1 I.

I claim:

1. In combination, an operating lever, latching mechanism therefor, comprising a pivoted latch having a portion disposed beside said operating lever, a projection on said lever, means normally urging said portion of the latch into engagement with said projection, said latch having a recess to receive the projection when the lever is moved to close the press, a crank lever adjacent the operating lever and having one end confronting the latch, a hand lever remote from the latch, a connection between said hand lever and crank lever whereby movement of the hand lever will move the crank lever against the latch to release the projection from engagement with the recess.

2. In combination, a foot-operated lever, latching mechanism therefor comprising a latch cooperating elements on said latch and foot lever operable by movement of the lever in one direction to maintain the lever against return movement, a hand operated lever mounted remote from the latch and foot lever, a foot-operable lever adjacent said first named foot lever, a crank lever carried by said last named foot lever and engageable with the latch to move the same from looking engagement with the first named foot lever, and a connection between said crank lever and hand lever whereby movement of the hand lever will cause the crank lever to engage the latch to move it from looking engagement with the first named foot lever to permit return movement of said foot lever.

3. In combination, a foot operated lever of garment presses and the like, a latch, cooperating elements on the latch and foot lever engageable upon movement of the foot lever in one direction to hold the foot lever against return movement, a releasing lever, two selectively operable actuating means for said releasing lever to actuate said lever and disengage said elements to permit return movement of the foot lever, a point on the releasing lever at which the power is applied from one actuating means serving as a fulcrum point when the releasing lever is actuated by the other actuating means.

4. Latching mechanism for a foot operated lever for garment presses having a work table mounted on the frame of the press comprising a latch, cooperating elements on the latch and .75

foot lever engageable upon movement of the foot lever in one direction to hold the foot lever against return movement, a hand operated lever mounted on the frame below the work table and provided with a finger gripping surface, a projection on the table in proximity to the finger gripping surface of the hand lever to accommodate the thumb of the operator, a crank lever operable to disengage said cooperating elements to permit return movement of the foot lever, and a connection between the hand lever and crank lever to move the crank lever when the gripping surface of the hand lever is moved toward the thumb accommodating portion of the table to permit return movement of the foot lever.

5. In combination, a foot operated lever of garment presses having a work table supported on the frame of the press, a latch for the foot lever engageable upon movement of the foot lever in one direction to hold the foot lever against return movement, a pedal lever pivotally mounted adjacent the foot lever, a tiltable member pivoted to the pedal lever and having a portion to disengage said cooperating elements to permit return movement of the foot lever when the pedal lever is rocked on its pivot, a hand lever adjacent the work table, and a connection between said hand lever and tiltable member to move said portion of the tiltable member to disengage said elements upon operation of the hand lever.

HERBERT G. BEEDE. 

